An image forming apparatus using an electrophotography consumes toner. When printing continues, the toner in a toner cartridge is used up someday. Thereafter, a person removes the toner cartridge from a main body of the image forming apparatus. The person sets a fresh toner cartridge filled with toner in the main body.
The toner cartridge fixes an IC (integrated circuit) chip to a wall of a container. The IC chip stores data for detecting that the toner cartridge is genuine goods.
Up to now, the data stored in the IC chip mounted on the toner cartridge is not erased. The IC chip remains fixed on the container. The data is still recorded in the IC chip even at a time when, due to the toner use up, the image forming apparatus is necessary to replace the toner cartridge with a fresh one.
However, that the data remains in the IC chip suffers from such a problem that a manufacturer other than a genuine manufacturer can easily copy the data.
A third party writes copy data on another storage medium. The third party attaches the storage medium onto a toner cartridge different from a genuine toner cartridge.
There is a drawback that the third party can easily copy the toner cartridge usable by an apparatus manufactured by the genuine manufacturer.